Machine Quilter’s Showcase 2011

I took 7 classes at MQS:

         

          Filling in the Fillers                                       DeLoa Jones

          Lions and Tigers and Templates, Oh My!     Kim Brunner

          Frameworks                                                Diana Phillips

          It’s More Than ‘Just” Edge to Edge             Kim Brunner

          Glorious Gridwork and Fillers                      Gina Perkes

          Sampler Solutions                                       Deloa Jones

          Border Designs in Half the Time                  Dawn Cavanaugh

I also won the door prize at 3 of the 7.  How lucky is that?  Especially since not every class had a door prize?  I won the book “Frameworks” in Diana Phillips’ class, a ruler in DeLoa Jones’ Sampler class and the stitch out that Gina Perkes worked on in her Gridwork class.

I enjoyed every class and always learn something.  It is also true that I learn from every quilt I work on.  I plan to make a stitch out of some of the patterns and techniques to help me retain all the ideas.

I had an intuition that I would need two beds in my hotel room.  There was one possible roommate, who decided she couldn’t make the trip, then Leslie posted on APQS Forums that her travel partner had to cancel and she was looking for a roommate.  That worked out well and I attended the Awards Ceremony and the Audacious Auction with her and compared notes on classes and vendors in the evenings.

It was a great 4 day trip and I look forward to next year.  I was awed and inspired by the beautiful quilts, and enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the quilters. 

Brandon's Story

My grandson, Brandon, and I have been working on another epic story.  It has been going on for
3 weeks and we talk on the phone almost every day for 30 - 40 mins.  He is doing most of the
work, I just have to supply some dialog every few mins.

In a nutshell we have travelled into the future.  I accidently started a war
when I woke the god of all elements.  4 giants are trying to kill me on a
beach.  A great white shark arrives with a saddle on to help me escape.  I get
injured and pass out.  I wake in "Imaginary Friends Land" where anything you
wish for will happen immediately. 

However there are 5 rules in IFL land.  I can't remember the last 3 because the
first 2 had me (silently) laughing.
   
    No romance
    You can't wish for the war to end


Sound like an 11 yr old boy?

The Next Quilt

My don’t break the chain calendar is working again so I have updated it on the latest yet to be revealed project. Prior to that I don’t remember what days I quilted but I am happy to have this tool back.


This is a picture of a quilt I received from Sandra H in my guild. I am quilting it to go into a silent auction at the Texas Association of Quilt Guilds’ rally day. http://www.texasassociationofquiltguilds.org I hope to be able to start it next weekend.

Isn't it cute?

Pretty quilt back

I won't be posting pictures of the front of the quilt until it is revealed to our guild, but this is the back of what I have on the frame right now. 

The Center of The Labyrinth

I finished quilting the labyrinth on Sunday. I had turned it to do the feathers in the last two borders. I had not quilted the center because I wasn’t sure what to put there. I finally decided on hooked feathers in the gold and a curl and spikey curl in the green.


The tension was bad as I worked clockwise around the center. I hadn’t thought about it or I would have done half of it before I turned the quilt. Sewing right arcing back to left was a problem. I ripped it out and it was better the second time, so I left it.

I used the same orange thread as I did in the border. It blended in to the two center fabrics more than I expected. I am posting two pictures so the designs show a bit. I am not thrilled with the hooked feathers but I like the texture.

Lost Keys

I went to the grocery store today. I planned a quick trip with just a few purchases. I have a 5-10 lb lifting restriction since the surgery (laparoscopic total hysterectomy) but I have been feeling good lately and rather housebound.


I noticed when I entered the store that most of the carts were out in circulation, being used in the store and out in the parking lot. This was my foreshadowing moment and like the ditz in a horror movie, I ignored it.

I picked up my few purchases and waited in the checkout line. Pushing the cart had caused me a little discomfort, but not bad. I have been pushing my longarm doing quilting in small doses for the last week without any problems so I was surprised, but I was standing still at the longarm, and it does push easier than a shopping cart.

I left the cart in the store and walked to my car. I couldn’t find my keys. I looked all through my purse. I knew I had them in the store, because when I first got out of the car I had locked it from habit and then had to open the door to get my cloth grocery bag.

I hoisted the groceries again and trudge through the store following my previous route. No keys, no one had seen any keys. I walked back to the car and thought about leaving the grocery bag on the ground by the car while I looked some more but I didn’t. It finally occurred to me that I may have dropped the keys in the cart when I thought I was putting them into my purse.

Back to the store and of course the cart I used was long gone and now the three rows of carts are near full as two employees have brought all the carts in from the parking lot. I knew I wasn’t up to pulling out the individual carts to check them all. I asked the service clerk once again, but no keys were turned in.

Fortunately I only live a little over a block from the store, so I left my car and trudged home. I had a few minutes wait until the apartment office opened and I could get a duplicate key to use for the apartment. I called the store and the keys weren’t turned in.

My duplicate car key was inside my apartment so I walked back to the store and went in and my keys had just been turned in about 90 mins after I lost them. I blame it on the cart shuffle.

I had to take pain medication after this and I realized I probably need another week of taking it easy before returning to work. On the design wall is a donation quilt I am working on. My sister, Betty¸ cut the fabric for me with the Go cutter before she returned home last Monday. It is an Xblock pattern by Patricia Pepe http://www.patriciapepe.com/  Pocketful of Posies. It is very easy and going together well. I added the yellow dots and dark purple because I was afraid I didn’t have enough pink.

Walter the Turtle

Things to do while recovering from surgery….

The turtle design is from Susan Carlson. My sisters and I worked on the turtle collage while visiting. We are still tweaking it. Then we need to audition backgrounds. It’s been fun.